Welcome to another addition of The A-Team, in which I give some recognition to videogame characters (protagonists, antagonists, anything in-between) that stood out to me and who I’d pick in a line-up to join my hall of fame. Having recently played Dead Space with a shiny new paint of coat, thanks to a phenomenal remake, I was quickly reminded that the pesky fiends you’ll be trying to stop from tearing you limb from limb (whilst you tear off theirs) deserve this coveted position. Those fiends being none other than the Necromorphs.
From what my lizard brain can surmise, Necromorphs were once humans that have had their tissue mutated and have subsequently turned into twisted creatures’ intent on transforming others into their kind, or straight up eviscerating those in their path. I’m pretty sure dead tissue can also be reanimated, so that’s nice.
This grotesque transformation is all thanks to an alien marker which humans are stupid enough to backward engineer and plant across the cosmos. Idiots. I think this is loosely how it all works in Dead Space, anyway, correct me as necessary.
Disgusting body-horror aesthetic aside, though this is rad, and I really dig the design of each different Necromorph variant, it’s the fairly unique way in which you must dispatch of these abominations that stands out to me. The dismemberment system plays a big part in Dead Space and is what makes Necromorphs even more formidable. In most media, removing the head and/or destroying the brain tends to be a sure-fire way to keep something from causing any hassle. When it comes to Necromorphs, this isn’t always the case. You’re going to need to remove more than one limb if you’ve any chance of survival- even then they may not stay down.
Removing the legs may still have a Necromorph crawling towards you regardless of this inconvenience. Dismembering the arms still leaves them the opportunity to sprint at you and gnash down with their teeth. Sometimes you can even remove their arms AND legs and the blighters will keep coming. However, the more limbs you get to hacking, the greater your survival rate will become.
Are they super strong? Potentially. Are they super-fast? Sometimes. Are they a grotesque monstrosity that needs putting down? Absolutely. Ok, so maybe that last statement was a little harsh, but various Necromorphs did try to rip my face off, so I felt it’s somewhat justified. Friendly or not (and they most often are NOT), I’m still a huge fan of the Necromorph design and the way in which you must deal with them. The Dead Space lore is interesting too, but it’s the Necromorphs themselves that stand out to me. Welcome to the A-Team, chaps.
Dualshocks and Daydreams 